7 Things You Need to Teach Your Students About Note-Taking
Learning to take notes in a second language is notoriously difficult. There are, however, many effective strategies that students need to learn. Are you teaching these?
1. Use Introductions and Conclusions
Professors outline their lectures or give a general idea of the topic. Knowing this helps students predict the content of the lecture and begin to organize their notes before the lecture even starts. …
Conclusions often restate the main ideas of a lecture and offer students a chance to see whether they caught what the professor thinks is most important.
2. Put question marks next to things you aren’t sure of or missed
Many students worry if they missed information or may have written it down wrong. Encourage them to simply put down a question mark and move on. They will have time to ask the professor to clarify these points at the end of class, or they can ask their classmates.
3. Display time relationships (list, table, numbers)
If the lecture covers the history of an idea or thing, professors will often describe how it has changed over time. There are many good ways to show this in notes. Using the margin of the paper for major dates and creating columns for what happened during these dates is a great strategy.
4. Use abbreviations and symbols (lots of them) (but good ones)
Even native speakers can’t write out all of the key words, and many words can be noted using simple abbreviations. Talk with your students about what symbols and abbreviations they can use while they take notes, and allow time to evaluate how effective they are at doing this. Can they revisit their notes later and still get the most important information?
5. Pay attention to questions the professor asks
Professors often ask questions at critical points. These can be requests for the definition of an important concept. They can also be during breaks between different points of a lecture. Students can use these questions ”and the answers that follow” to fill in key definitions or examples and to get ready for following sections.
6. Note definitions
If a professor gives the definition of a term, it’s likely important. Some lectures are extended explanations of critical terms in a field of study. Teach students the words and phrases that signal a definition.
7. Note examples
If a professor gives an example, it is also likely to help explain an important idea. Students should learn how to recognize when a professor is giving an example and illustrate this in their notes.
Want More Tips?
All of these note-taking tips come from Roni Lebauer’s 2-level listening and note-taking series, Learn to Listen, Listen to Learn. Request a sample copy and then consider adopting the series for your next term.
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